The figures released by the bourses brings to light the concentrated move made by domestic institutions to absorb the sales pressed even at higher levels. While FIIs sold stocks worth Rs 87 crore on the BSE and NSE, domestic institutions bought stocks worth Rs 82 crore. Reflecting the roller-coaster move of the heavyweight stocks, the index found support at the crucial level of 2,820 to finally bounce back above the psychological barrier of 2,891 to close at 2,919.74, the day's high.

Accordingto market sources, FIIs were rumoured to have sold stocks like Infosys Technology, ACC, BFL Software, ITC, HDFC Bank, Reliance, Zee Telefilms, HPCL, Ponds, Bajaj Auto, Bank of Baroda, Larsen, Pentafour Software, Telco, ICICI, Corporation Bank and SBI. The continuos sales pressed by the FII holding at the counters of PSU banks and domestic financial institutions' counters in these companies reflect the attempt made by FIIs to reduce their exposure at these counters. However, FIIs were reported to have bought selectively at counters like VSNL, HLL, NIIT and Hindalco.

"In the absence of any positive statements from the finance ministry regarding US-64 and any other industry friendly measure, we have formed a bearish view on the Indian markets," explained the director of an FII brokerage outfit. "The immediate fall in the indices has been arrested on account of the domestic support, but this will not be a permanent feature," he explained.

Mirroring the spurt in the speculative activities at the local bourses,five stocks contributed over 40 per cent of the total turnover. Satyam Computers, ITC, Zee Telefilms, SBI and Pentafour Software registered huge volumes with the BSE's turnover touching a new high of Rs 1,768.45 crore while the turnover on the NSE stood at a low of Rs 1,630.95 crore.

Infotech stocks continued their downward move for the second consecutive day. Market sources hinted at the concentrated move of the bear operators to further push down the prices of infotech stocks. However, pharma and FMCG counters registered sharp recovery towards the last phase. "Although we did see a pull back from the critical support band between 2,830 to 2,860 points today, there is likely to be lack of conviction at higher levels. We do not expect a pull back to continue beyond 3,060 levels," explained Maulik Sharedalal, of Kaji & Maulik Securities.

In the demat segment of BSE, huge chunks of HDFC, NIIT, VSNL, Hero Honda and BPCL were traded at a discount of over 1 per cent to the prevailing market price.